August 31, 2015

Part of a
series? If yes, can this book be read as a standalone? Yes, but can be read as
a standalone

If a series,
what is the series title? Letting Go

If series, what
number is this book? Book2

Release
Date: August 24, 2015

Blurb(s): What's life without a little
risk?

Or a lot
of risk, if you're Sebastian Carlisle. He'll never live up to the legacy of his
dead brother, so why try? Being the wild child in a family of stuck-up rich
snobs suits him just fine. Until he
meets Micah Burke, and everything changes. Micah's
got too much going on for a relationship. Even if he could
trust Sebastian, a distraction—a sexy, reckless distraction with a death
wish—would only derail his carefully scheduled life. If it were just Micah,
maybe that would be fine, but his mother and sister depend on him, and he can't
let them down. Or at least that's what he tells himself. A hot
moment leads to a hot night leads to a connection neither of them are ready
for. And when a crisis hits Micah's family hard, Sebastian will have to shed
his bad-boy image and decide whether he can be the man Micah needs—and Micah
needs to decide whether he'll let him. Book two of
Letting Go

Pages or Words: 67,000

Categories: M/M
Romance, New Adult, Romance

Excerpt:

“I thought I knew what kind of person
you were.”

“Yeah, you made that pretty clear.”

Micah cringed, but kept going. “You take
for granted everything I work my ass off to achieve. It’s easy for you. And now
I know there’s more to you than that. I don’t understand your choices, or the
need for an adrenaline rush you seem to have.” He held up a hand to keep
Sebastian from saying anything. He scooted up, resting his back against the
handlebars. “I don’t have to understand. It’s part of who you are.”

“Somehow I don’t think this discussion
is heading in a direction I’m going to like.” Sebastian drew his knees to his
chest and wrapped his arms around them.

“The thing is, you’re a bad influence on
me.”

“I don’t—”

“You don’t even have to do anything.
Take tonight, for instance.”

“Tonight?”

“I have a midterm tomorrow. I should be
studying. Or even sleeping. Instead I’m here. I never have trouble doing what
I’m supposed to do. Setting aside my ‘want tos’ to do my ‘have tos.’ Except around
you.”

“I’m not trying to make your life
harder. I’m just trying to be part of it.”

“That’s what I don’t get. You could have
almost anyone. You could find someone a hell of a lot less complicated than
me.”

j.
leigh bailey is an office drone by day and the author of New Adult and Young
Adult LGBT Romance by night. She can usually be found with her nose in a book
or pressed up against her computer monitor. A book-a-day reading habit sometimes
gets in the way of... well, everything...but some habits aren't worth breaking.
She's been reading romance novels since she was ten years old. The last twenty
years or so have not changed her voracious appetite for stories of romance,
relationships and achieving that vitally important Happy Ever After. She's a
firm believer that everyone, no matter their gender, age, sexual orientation or
paranormal affiliation deserves a happy ending.

She
wrote her first story at seven, which was, unbeknownst to her at the time, a
charming piece of fan-fiction in which Superman battled (and defeated, of
course) the nefarious X Luther. She was quite put out to be told, years later,
that the character's name was actually Lex. Her second masterpiece should have
been a best-seller, but the action-packed tale of rescuing her little brother
from an alligator attack in the marshes of Florida collected dust for years
under the bed instead of gaining critical acclaim.

Now
she writes New Adult and Young Adult LGBT Romance novels about boys traversing
the crazy world of love, relationships and acceptance.

Hi, j. leigh, thank you for agreeing to this
interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current
book.

Thank you so much for having me! I’m an office
drone by day in the Chicagoland area, and by night I’m the author of New Adult
and Young Adult LGBTQ romance. RECKLESS HOPE is the second book in my Letting
Go series, and is an opposites attract story centered around two characters who
have to overcome the stresses and disappointments of their past to build a
happy relationship together. And, while doing this, they have to figure out who
they are and, ultimately, what they want for their future.

1)What genre is your book and
what drew you to this genre?

RECKLESS
HOPE is a contemporary New Adult gay romance. Basically, I love romance. I’ve
been reading the genre since I was ten-years-old. And I go through genre
phases. For a while I read any kind of historical. Then it was westerns. Then
suspense. Then contemporary. Then paranormal. It didn’t take long for me to
become obsessed with Male/Male romance when I discovered it existed. Gay
romance has all of the same conflicts and trope found in traditional romance,
and even a couple of tropes that are intrinsically same-sex, such as Gay for
You or Out for You. I love that the characters still have to overcome obstacles
to achieve their HEA, and in a same-sex pairing, there are additional conflict
or considerations they can face. Social pressures and attitudes, legal/equality
aspects, defining the relationship, etc. I find the extra complications
compelling.

2)How many days a week do you
write?

I
try to write at least four days a week, though it probably should be more. I
work full time at the day job, so writing has to be squeezed in where I can.
Also, I’m not a particularly fast writer, so I can’t bang out a few thousand
words every time I sit at my computer. Really, though, I give myself a weekly
word count goal (5,000), so the number of days a week I write is really
determined by how much I manage to write on a given day. Sometimes it’s seven
days a week, sometimes it’s three.

3)On average, how long does it
take to write a book?

As
I mentioned above, I’m not particularly fast, but things move along the way
they should, I can write a book in 4 to 6 months. Sometimes life gets in the
way and it takes longer, but that’s my average rate.

4)Do you have a trailer for your
book? If yes, give us the link. If not, do you think you’d like to have one
done at some point?

I
don’t have a book trailer for any of my books, but I kind of wish I did. I
don’t have the technical expertise to create one myself, and I’ve been busy
with other things (like writing!) that I haven’t researched how to do it. I
think book trailers are a lot of fun and a great alternative to some of the
other traditional marketing avenues, but I haven’t tried it myself. Maybe if I
had the right technology (I understand there are some great programs out there
that make it fairly simple) and the know-how, I’d try it one of these days.

5)If I could be a character in a
book, I would be _______?

Anne
Shirley from the Anne of Green Gables
series by L.M. Montgomery. I love her spirit, her loyalty, and her
determination throughout the series. Growing up with Matthew and Marilla
Cuthbert, Diana Barry, and let’s not forget Gilbert Blythe, would have been so
much fun. Even the setting is great. Because of these books, I have a deep
desire to explore Prince Edward Island. I haven’t read the books in a long
time, but they still stick with me. They renew my faith in the existence of
kindred spirits and bosom buddies.

August 28, 2015

Blurb: Former Navy SEAL Axel Blaze
lives a solitary life. He doesn't do emotions, and he doesn't do babysitting.
Used to being on his own, his job consists of Wetwork (a charming term coined
by the KGB) for his former Master Chief, Mac. When an out-of-the-ordinary job
lands on his doorstep, Axel heads down a path that includes a famous heavy
metal rock band and one quiet, vulnerable, guitar-shredding virtuoso named
Gareth Wolf.

Gareth Wolf's life changed in
an instant when a car he was a passenger in crashed, hurting his brother's best
friend and the band's lead guitarist. They created the band, Skull Blasters, as
kids. Gareth had always been happy in the background, playing roadie. With the
lead guitarist's injury, Gareth is suddenly thrust into the limelight and into
a frenzied life he never imagined for himself. Finally fed up with living a
lie, Gareth comes out as gay in a newspaper interview and finds himself in the
bulls-eye of a crazed stalker. Somebody wants Gareth hurt - or worse - and Mac
has been hired to be sure that doesn't happen. Babysitting duty is NOT Axel's
strong suit, but Mac won't be budged.

Enter Axel Blaze. Against his
better judgment, the big man takes the job to protect the shy musician. The
more time he spends with Gareth Wolf, the more he admires the man. Where's a
simple assassination when you need one? The situation becomes more volatile for
each man as the attempts on Gareth escalate just as Axel finds himself falling
for the quiet lead guitarist.

Strong, funny, smart-ass --
and kinda sweet Axel is everything Gareth has ever wanted in a man. Too bad
he's off limits. As the stalker grows bolder, Gareth and Axel move closer
emotionally - but is it too late? All Axel knows is that they don't stand a
chance if he can't find the maniac trying to kill the man he's come to care
about. A lot.

Everyone knows that
relationships that begin in pressured or volatile situations eventually fizzle
out.

Or do they?

“Hey, Axel!”

I
glanced over to see one of the guys smiling at me. I searched his features and
then put a name to the face.

“Jinx,
right?”

“Yep.
Just wanted to say thanks, you know? For watching out for Munchkin.”

“Munchkin?”

“Yeah,
we all called him that when he was younger.”

Oh, I couldn’t wait to use that endearment.

Best-selling author, Sandrine (Sandy) was born in
Inglewood, California. Raised by "Old School" French parents, she
later moved to Tucson, AZ. It was there that writing became a hobby. Always
told she had a great imagination, Sandy wrote short stories for her friends in
High School. In college, she took more writing classes while working on her
Criminal Justice degree, but it wasn't until a soap opera caught her eye that
she got involved in male on male romances. On the advice of a friend, Sandy
dipped her toes into the world of M/M Romance. Sandy takes the writing
seriously and has had countless conversations with gay men as well as hours of
research. She's been involved with the military in one way or another for over
twenty years, and has a great deal of respect for our men in uniform. She's
traveled the world, but has finally returned to Arizona.